PEORIA — The Peoria Civic Center reported a loss of $875,000 for the fiscal year that concludes this month. That’s well over the center’s own projections of an annual loss of $96,000, said general manager Jim Wetherington.

Against that backdrop, members of the board governing the taxpayer-supported Peoria Civic Center Authority voted Thursday to approve a new three-year contract with longtime management firm SMG while ending a long-standing relationship with the CenterPlate food and beverage service to save the convention center cash.

Attendance was down 23 percent this fiscal year from last when the Civic Center registered a loss of $230,000.

In recent years, annual attendance for all Civic Center events has averaged about 640,000, said Wetherington. In the fiscal year from Sept. 1, 2013, to Aug. 31, 2014, attendance was 520,000, he said.

As a result, the Civic Center has reduced staff to cut costs, said Wetherington. “We’ve tried to cut costs across the board. We’re down 25 percent on full-time staff. Since 2010, we’ve gone from 54 people to 40,” he said, adding that 4½ positions have been cut since January.

The center’s reserves are down from about $2 million to $1.3 million at present, said Wetherington, who cited a variety of reasons for the decline, most notably the harsh winter.

“Last winter killed us. Snow hit us on hockey games. We sold 3,400 tickets to the Harlem Globetrotters last January but only 1,800 people showed up. Usually we get 1,000 walk-ups for the Globetrotters,” he said, referring to the annual Civic Center appearance by the Clown Princes of Basketball.

“The monster truck show also got hit by the weather as well as Bradley University (basketball) and hockey games,” Wetherington said.

It didn’t help that the Peoria Rivermen hockey team, along with dropping from what had been a class AAA team to an A team at the minor-league level, also played 10 fewer home games this year than last, he said.

Another problem has been the lack of hotel space Downtown that puts a crimp on conventions, said Wetherington.

“We’re working with the Peoria Area Convention and Visitors Bureau on trying to add more short-term bookings,” he said.

At-Large City Councilman Ryan Spain, the city’s liaison to the board, urged members to work to continue to try to refine goals with the PACVB on what the convention center hopes to attract.

Although the Marriott Pere Marquette and the accompanying Courtyard by Marriott are now open, the Four Points by Sheraton, the Downtown’s largest hotel with 319 rooms, remains closed for renovations.

“We’re off 50 percent in conventions since 2010. We just don’t have the capacity to do Downtown conventions. We need to be able to house the key convention players that use the Civic Center Downtown,” he said.

Page 2 of 2 - Along with fewer conventions, there have been fewer big crowds, said Wetherington. The recent Earth, Wind & Fire concert, an act long sought in Peoria, drew only 2,000 people, far short of the expected 5,000, he said.

The Civic Center faces fierce competition for acts — not just from facilities in surrounding cities such as Quad Cities, Rockford and Bloomington — but from the increase in outdoor festivals in central Illinois this summer, he said.

Other local venues also have staged shows that otherwise might have been held at the Civic Center, said Wetherington.

“The Limelight (Eventplex at 8102 N. University St.) has probably run 20 shows over the past year, shows that might have used the (Civic Center) Theatre or Exhibit Hall,” he said.

To make ends meet, the Civic Center is turning to smaller events, said Wetherington. “We’ve had an insurance company using the facility for the last two-and-half months. Ignite Church has been here all year.”

The SMG contract for three years, with an annual management fee of $312,500 in the first two years and $318,750 the third year, gives the board a chance to end the arrangement after that time, or to continue for two additional years.

Looking ahead, Wetherington said he wants to be optimistic but added that the marketing plan submitted Thursday to the Civic Center Board “does not anticipate much improvement in the year ahead.”

The change in the food and beverage service — now being brought in-house to be managed by SMG — will provide a nearer-term infusion of cash and place all the accountability for performance with one entity. That’s a crucial move, authority chairman Bob Manning said.

“There’s no more possible finger-pointing,” he said. “It’s going to be on their shoulders, and I think going in the direction of greater accountability is a plus for the authority and for taxpayers.”

Steve Tarter is Journal Star business editor. He can be reached at 686-3260 or starter@pjstar.com. Follow his blog, Minding Business, on pjstar.com and follow him on Twitter @SteveTarter. Reporter Chris Kaergard also contributed to this story.